Various religious leaders, on Sunday, said the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government must be collective, decisive and sincere before it could yield the desired results in the country.
The clerics, who spoke in Awka at a one-day community dialogue organised by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Muslim Community, regretted that the monster of corruption had robbed Nigeria of its human and natural resources and benefits, challenging their colleagues at all levels to lead the fight.
One of the resource persons, Rev. Emmanuel Okoroafor, pointed out that individuals’ corrupt tendencies could be addressed by God’s word, because everyone has the natural tendency to be corrupt.
Okoroafor said, “Corruption cannot be fought by words of mouth alone. We must act against it. Everyone has the natural tendency to be corrupt. But the word of God has the power to crush corruption.”
Another cleric, Rev. Isaac Opayinka, charged leaders to be careful with their actions and utterances, stressing that “anything you see in the society has fundamental root in the heart.”
On his part, an Islamic scholar, Lawal Nurudeen, traced the rising spate of corruption to the increase in knowledge, and stressed the need to tackle it from the family level.
He charged those in attendance to take the message to their respective organisations for multiplier effects.
The accounting officer of the group and convener of the dialogue, Alhaji Chuks Anyachonkeya, called for multi-stakeholder approach to the fight against the hydra-headed monster.
He said, “We need to join hands to move the society forward. There is need for self-reformation from the family to the society at large. Within your circle of influence, do whatever you can to emancipate the society.”
The event, facilitated by John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, drew participants from the three major ethnic nationalities and religious organisations who shared their experiences and proffered solutions to tackling corruption.
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